Separation,....

[jess2353]

I've recently brought a 4yo only had him about 6 months.
he was backed professionally as a 3yo worked well all through the year,done some dressage shows ect.
But in this time I've had him his shown some anxiety problems.
first he didn't want to stand up at the stables to be groomed away from the others, he won't stable alone without trying to jump the gate if no other horses are in he paces about and rams the door,his grown really attached to his Feild mate who he follows about constantly and gets extremely upset when his mate goes
Even if his being led behind him,even though now they are desperate fields.
I took him to his first show last weekend and he traveled lovely and got on fab with my friends mare
Who he'd never seen before they stood lovely at the box eating for a good hour until the mare had to go to her first class,Then he went absolutely crazy, rearing and snapped off his lead rope :/ I tried walking him around the the quite bit of the show by he'd only settle when the mare come back.

I know I've only had him a
Short while and his possibly still settling in, but does anyone have any idea how to work with a
Horse that has separation problems ? I just want to see if there's thing I can do to help him deal with it

 

[Lottiedots]

This is a hard one. My boy has always had separation anxiety which has had its problems. He wont be stabled on his own, he breaks into a sweat and starts shaking.I gave up taking him to competitions with another horse as he would get too anxious about his companion and spend most of the time calling, gets a bit embarrassing! But he has got better over the years so really it comes down to patience and trying to give him confidence. He now has a tiny shetland as a companion who never goes anywhere so he always feels secure. Fortunately he is happy to leave him at home when we go out. I put a mirror in his stable which helps a but I have just had to accept he has to have a companion if he is stabled. Your horse is still very young, be patient. Someone once said to me 'hold your horses hand, he is just feeling insecure", that has aways helped me to think about helping him to feel calm in stressful situations. Good luck!

 

[jess2353]

It's seems to be one of those things that you just have to deal with, I've just done some
Research online and read up on other peoples theory's.
it's a shame as his a lovely fella, he just becomes a different horse in large environments, when his anxiety is up and his starting
To get stressed I'm main enemy number one,and he tends to lash out in order to flee.
at you show when walking him around he was kicking out Bolting forward and rearing when he got the chance, he was constantly calling at the trailer aswel.
going to try just get him out this winter I think hire some venues and let him get some good experiences, and try again next year